EPA Nominee’s Hearing Gets Boycotted Today

In an interesting turn of events, EPA nominee Gina McCarthy’s hearing that was scheduled for today has been boycotted by the Republican committee.

May 09, 2013

Eight Republican senators did not show up to the hearing for Gina McCarthy, the nominee to be the next head of the EPA, staging a boycott. According to an article by Rebekah Metzler on U.S. news, Sen. Barbara Boxer, the chairman of the committee was “stunned”.

The Republican committee presented Boxer with a letter, explaining the reasons behind their actions.

"As you know, all Republicans on our EPW committee have asked EPA to honor five very reasonable and basic requests in conjunction with the nomination of Gina McCarthy which focus on openness and transparency," the letter stated. "While you have allowed EPA adequate time to fully respond before any mark-up on the nomination, EPA has stonewalled on four of the five categories. Because of this, no Republican member of the Committee will attend the mark-up if it is held."

Sen. David Vitter, who is the lead Republican of the party, had even made statements in a release, declaring that Gina McCarthy “has an awful lot to answer for”.

“The EPA has earned a reputation for ignoring congressional information requests and hiding emails and other information from the public. It's in desperate need of a leader who will reverse those practices and build a true culture of transparency. Unfortunately, the president's nominee Gina McCarthy comes from inside the troubled agency and has been involved in many of the problem areas,” said the release.